UN Women and UNDP have piloted a training programme on Non-Violent Communication – a method which has found success in international mediation and conflict resolution settings – in Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka. The project was generously supported by the Government of Australia and the European Union. This brief provides an overview of the approaches used in the pilot project and presents results from the evaluations of the trainings.

This report identifies both the persistent trends and changing gender dynamics of violent extremism in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, based on an expert survey and interview research conducted between July and November 2021. It examined how and to what extent misogyny and hostile beliefs are fuelling violent extremism in the Southeast Asian region during the pandemic, the degree to which misogyny and hostile beliefs in the ASEAN region are fuelling violent extremism, and how these manifest themselves in the offline space.

The Peace Village Initiative, implemented by the Wahid Foundation since 2017 with the support of UN Women and other donors, is an ambitious initiative that aims to address the drivers of extremism among women by mobilizing community members, especially women, to promote social cohesion across Java Island in Indonesia.

In order to become a Peace Village, members within a community commit to promoting and fostering tolerance and peace within their communities. Starting with making peace within the family, members then agree on guidelines to enhance social cohesion in the community.

This training package on Gender and Preventing Violent Extremism is designed to increase the understanding of the critical role gender can play in understanding, addressing and preventing violent extremism (PVE). It is intended to support women’s organisations and civil society in their ongoing work on PVE, and related fields of women, peace and security. The training package is designed for use in Indonesia and Bangladesh, as well as South and Southeast Asia.

This brief explores recent research, which examines the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of women and men students of two universities in northern Bangladesh. It found that young women and men in northern Bangladesh identify gender equality and equal opportunities for women and men as the single most critical element for social cohesion in Bangladesh.

The linkages between organized crime, including trafficking in persons, and violent extremism are a global concern. These linkages are starting to receive some attention, but this is limited to specific conflict contexts such as Iraq and Syria. In recognition of the link between violent extremism and trafficking in persons and the gendered nature of both, the UN Security Council adopted its first resolution on trafficking in persons in areas affected by armed conflict in 2016 (UNSCR 2331). But overall, there is little understanding of the relationship between violent extremism and trafficking in persons, or of how gender informs this interaction.

This report presents novel research findings – possibly the first such robust findings to date – on the relationship between support for misogyny, violence against women, and extremist violence in Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines.

This report presents research findings on gender and violent extremism in the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. The aim of the research is to examine women’s roles in supporting, countering, and preventing violent extremism and how gender identities and relations may be used to garner support for intolerant social attitudes and groups as well as recruitment to violent extremist groups.